This invention relates generally to devices for dislodging and/or collecting debris within a swimming pool. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved pool cleaner of the type for submerged and generally random travel along the floor and sidewalls of a swimming pool to dislodge and collect debris.
Residential and commercial swimming pools conventionally include a water filtration system for removing dirt and debris from the pool water. Such filtration systems typically include a circulation pump installed at a convenient position outside the swimming pool and appropriately coupled through piping to the pool water for pumping water to a filter unit. The filter unit includes a filtration material for separating from the water dirt and other suspended debris, after which the water is recirculated by the pump to the swimming pool. To maintain desired standards of water cleanliness and clarity, the filtration system is normally operated on a daily schedule for at least several hours each day.
While a swimming pool filtration system of the type described above is essential for maintaining water cleanliness and clarity, such filtration systems by themselves are generally incapable of maintaining a swimming pool in a satisfactory state of cleanliness over a long period of time. For example, conventional water filtration systems are designed for removing suspended, water-entrained debris of a relatively small size and not for removing sizeable debris, such as leaves or the like, of a larger size. Moreover, conventional systems are not designed for removing particulate matter which tends to settle irrespective of size onto the floor or sidewalls of the swimming pool. Accordingly, periodic cleaning of the pool floor and sidewalls by additional means is required for maintaining the swimming pool in a clean condition.
A variety of in-the-pool cleaning devices are well known for use in concert with a conventional filtration system for cleaning the floor and sidewalls of a swimming pool. One such particularly common device comprises, for example, a so-called vacuum head which is connected to the suction side of a pool filtration system pump and then moved manually over submerged pool surfaces to draw debris and sediment into the main filter unit. A major disadvantage of such manual devices, however, resides in the fact that the pool owner may be disinclined to spend the time or the effort to clean the pool himself or to incur the expense of hiring other persons to perform the cleaning task.
In recent years, a variety of automated in-the-pool cleaning devices have become popular for removing or assisting in the removal of debris and sediment from swimming pool water without requiring manual operation or attention. For example, floating in-the-pool cleaning devices of the general type shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,044 have been designed for connection to the circulation pump of a pool water filtration system for directing a portion of the pump discharge in the form of one or more pressurized water jets against pool surfaces to dislodge debris and sediment. The dislodged material is thus returned to a suspended state within the pool water for removal by the conventional filtration system, thereby improving the overall cleanliness of the pool water. However, larger debris tends to resettle relatively quickly onto the pool floor and sidewalls resulting in a periodic requirement to remove such debris by other techniques, such as a manually handled vacuum head.
Other widely used in-the-pool cleaning devices have been designed for collecting large and small debris from a swimming pool while simultaneously dislodging small particulate and sediment from the pool floor and sidewalls. See, for example, the pool cleaning device shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,754 depicting a cleaning device adapted for submerged and generally random travel along the pool floor and sidewalls for dislodging and collecting debris, wherein such devices are exemplified by the pool cleaner manufactured and sold by Polaris Vac-Sweep of San Marcos, Calif., under the trademark "Polaris Vac-Sweep". This latter type of automatic in-the-pool cleaning device advantageously provides improved overall pool cleaning by substantially precluding any requirement to periodically utilize a manually operated vacuum head to remove larger debris such as leaves from a swimming pool.
While submerged pool cleaning devices of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,754 have performed in a highly satisfactory manner, particularly in comparison with other types of cleaning devices, a number of operational shortcomings are present in currently available equipment. For example, such cleaning devices are typically supported upon driven wheels wherein at least a portion of a wheel drive train is exposed to potential jamming or damage from contact with pool debris. In addition, such devices have had relatively high pressure requirements for proper operation, wherein the pressure requirement has been fulfilled in many systems only by use of a separate booster pump in addition to the filtration system pump. In addition, by way of further example, satisfactory apparatus has not been provided for integration directly into the cleaning device to prevent device entrapment within a confined region of a pool, such as a corner.
There exists, therefore, a significant need for an improved in-the-pool cleaning device of the type adapted for submerged travel over pool surfaces to collect and dislodge debris, wherein drive train components are protected against contact with pool debris, wherein water flow and pressure requirements for proper efficient operation are substantially minimized, and wherein effective backup means are provided for preventing undesired entrapment of the device within a confined region of a pool. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further significant related advantages.